...…

Bang!

On the place where the two Monster Beasts were fighting, the five island prisoners were currently biding their time and patiently waiting for the white fox and crimson lizard to further weaken themselves.

While they were waiting in their hiding spots, another person suddenly arrived and headed over to the place where one of the prisoners was hiding. "Big Brother Cracker, the Boss is summoning everyone in our gang. It looks like it is already time for 'festival'."

The guy that was called Cracker gave the newcomer a sidelong glance before grinning from ear to ear before saying. "Looks like this island is going to be lively. If that is the case, then we need to hurry up and pick up the pace to wrap this up as soon as possible."

He then turned his attention towards the fighting monster beasts before continuing. "Little Dog, since you are already here, lend us a hand so that we can take down these two beasts. They are going to be our dinner later."

Little Dog didn't refuse the offer and nodded his head before quickly looking for a good place to position himself for the attack.

At the same time, Cracker started giving out his orders to his brothers by using some hand signals. And when the others saw that, they quickly executed his commands and started moving forward as sneaky as possible.

Not long after, they finally got the perfect positions to ambush the two monster beasts and trapped them with a pincer attack if ever those two beasts tried to run away later.

...

In the meantime, Shin and his group were also hiding away from those guys; a little away from the group of criminals, so that they could hide their presence from their targets.

Arthur and Leonard were hiding on the opposite side of the forest where Shin and the others positioned themselves, stalking their respective targets behind.

On the other side, Shin was hiding alongside Molton and the girls before clarifying their plan. "I'll say it again. There is no need for you to concern yourselves with the prisoners, those two and I are more than enough to deal with them. Just focus on taking down those two monster beasts and securing the points."

It was not proper for the girls to take on the bloody job of dealing with these prisoners, especially that the task itself was to take those people down as soon as possible.

Given their backgrounds, Shin knew that they were not used to killing people especially with their young age; it was the same for the innocent Molton. Lorraine might be slightly different from them since her family already exposed her to these kinds of things. But at most, she could only incapacitate their opponents and cripple them by shooting those criminals.

On the other hand, the Monster Trio was in a completely different case. There was no need to question Shin since he could do the job without any hesitation given his background with the Black Serpent Mafia.

Meanwhile, Leonard was in a similar case since his master practically trained him to be cold-hearted when dealing with these kinds of people. His targets might be cruel people who could also slaughter innocent people. But killing was still killing no matter if the guys that got killed deserve to die or not.

As for Arthur, he was no longer the same as before. After being thrown in a hellish place full of criminals who always want to kill him whenever they see him, it was natural for Arthur to grow cold-hearted when facing these kinds of people.

After being ambushed before coupled with the bloody mission that they recently had, Arthur understood that he couldn't stay as easygoing as before, especially when he was facing these kinds of situations.

And with his family being a part of the Military Force of their country, it was clear to him that he was going to get involved with more cases like these in the future. So, he thought that it was better for him to face this fact sooner rather than later.

…

After making sure that everything was clear, Shin nodded his head at the group before dashing towards a spot where his targets were located.

His eyes suddenly glowed with golden light as he used an ocular Mentalism Technique while surveying the surroundings. And it didn't take long for him to discover that there was another person added in the ranks of their opponents.

Seeing that, he immediately gave some hand signals to inform Arthur and Leonard, so that they could make some adjustments. And when the two saw his signals, they nodded their heads in response before quickly adjusting their positions.

At this point in time, they were now tasked to deal with two targets each. It might be crazy for them to treat their opponents as some sort of prey, especially that those people had the advantage in terms of Martial-Art attainments.

Shin and the others were only a half-step away from reaching the Ethereal Opening Stage but the opposing side was already in that stage. But regardless of being in a disadvantageous situation, the three didn't seem to care about it. They were even bold enough to treat those dangerous people as easy targets.

As the time ticked by, the two beasts were getting weaker and weaker as they fought each other. But despite that being that case, both of them were still unwilling to yield and continued to fight stubbornly.

Not long after, the two of them suffered a heavy blow from each other and got knocked down on the ground. And when the island prisoners saw that scene, they quickly rushed out of their hiding spots and launched themselves towards the two fallen beasts.

They came from different directions and were planning to give the two monster beasts the fatal blow that would kill them. The four of them were targeting the huge lizard since it was slightly in a better state than the white fox due to its hard scales. On the other hand, the other two prisoners were trying to take down the other beast.

Bang! Bang!

They were about to succeed when they heard the loud sound of gunshots coming from the nearby bushes. Cracker and Little Dog, who were planning to take down the white fox, were forced to stop their tracks and quickly defended themselves from the incoming bullets.

Clang! Clang!

The bullets couldn't penetrate the defense of the Natural Force protecting the two prisoners but it was more than enough to delay their movements.

"Ambush!"

Those words just came out from Cracker's mouth when he saw a figure appear in front of them all of sudden. And that person was actually Shin who now had a pair of sheathed katana hanging on the left side of his waist.

He was currently taking a sword-drawing stance in the air while also regulating his breathing at the same time. And before the Cracker and Little Dog could even respond Shin suddenly channeled his Mental Energy on one of his sheathed swords before pulling it out all of a sudden.

'Four Symbol Scripture: Holy Dragon - Saint Tiger Combination Technique

– Breath of Slaughter'

Shing!

With a swift swing of his katana, a crescent wave of Mental Energy was suddenly released from it and flew straight towards Cracker and Little Dog.

Not having enough time to properly execute a defensive skill, the two could only rely on their Natural Force to defend themselves. At the very least, they were quite confident that they would not suffer any serious injury from facing the incoming attack head-on.

Or that was what they thought until they came in contact with the Mental Energy Wave that was released by Shin.

Bang!

Both Cracker and Little Dog were knocked back by that attack while the Natural Force that was supposedly protecting their bodies suddenly disappeared upon contact.

"Haste!"

They were still stunned at what just happened when they saw Shin catch up with them in an instant with the help of a speed-boosting Mentalism Rune. But despite him appearing like a ghost, the two were still able to see the appearance of their current assailant.

"What? A kid!?"

They were originally thinking that they were ambushed by their rivals from the opposing gang in the island, but they didn't expect that the person that dared to attack them so decisively was a young man who was not even twenty yet.

Unfortunately, they didn't have enough time to dwell on that though too much since they could already see that Shin's katana was already making its way to chop off their necks.

"Don't underestimate us, kid!"

Seeing that, they quickly moved their bodies to respond and defend themselves – or at least they tried.

The moment they tried to execute a defensive skill, they suddenly discovered that they couldn't properly control the flow of Internal Qi within their bodies; they felt that their bodies were being seized by an invisible hand and making their Qi flow chaotically.

In the air, Shin did a couple of signs with his other hand, gathering the Mental Energy residuals lingering in the air around his opponents' bodies.

'Four Symbol Scripture: Conquering Claws of the Celestial Phoenix'

Discovering that they couldn't do anything to escape their current situation, the two could only watch the katana cut through the air.

Since the two of them were side by side with each other and couldn't move, they could predict that both of their necks were going to get severed given the trajectory of the incoming katana.

During this critical time, Cracker's instincts suddenly kicked it and extended his hand, grabbing Little Dog's shoulder before pushing the guy in front of him.

"Ah! You-…!"

Little Dog was completely caught off-guard by Cracker's actions and couldn't respond in time. And before he could even complete his words, his head was already severed from his shoulder and flew in the air.

After sacrificing his comrade, Cracker quickly forced his legs to move and retreat. At the same time, he also calmed the flow of his Internal Qi forcefully, trying to regain his ability to use his Martial-Art Skills.

When he was successful, Cracker immediately became overjoyed since he could now properly fight Shin. Unfortunately, his opponent had other plans prepared for him.

When he saw Cracker's actions, Shin quickly retracted his katana right after he severed Little Dog's head with it. And alongside those movements, he also did another set of hand signs with it.

In the very next instant, a thick hexagonal wall made of Mental Energy suddenly appeared in front of him with a Mentalism Rune written on its center.

After that, Shin pushed his palm forward and sent the Mental Energy wall towards Cracker with an imaginable speed and unstoppable force.

'Four Symbol Scripture: Bulwark Assault of the Heavenly Turtle'

Cracker's eyes suddenly turned wide when he saw the incoming wall of Mental Energy. He just recovered his control over the flow of his Internal Qi, so he was not in a position to defend against this kind of speed.

"Who is this kid?"

Those were the thoughts that Cracker had when the incoming Mental Energy Wall hit him and dragged his body towards the trees behind him.

Cracker was able to survive that attack, but he still suffered grievous wounds after colliding with multiple trees earlier. And before he could even recover himself, a katana suddenly pierced through his chest and sealed his fate.

"D*mn! Such a vicious kid that I encountered," said Cracker as his final words before his body lost its strength, signifying his death.

After that, Shin pulled his katana back and swung it in the air to remove the blood on its blade before putting it back to its sheath.

"That was faster than what I expected," he muttered to himself before turning his head towards the others to check how their respective fights were going.

...…